Shoe parts press



Dec. 10, 1940. J. F. SMITH SHOE PARTS PRESS Filed April 24, 1937 Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE. PARTS PRESS Application April 24, 1937, Seria'ILNo. 138,735

2 Claims.

This invention relates to presses for use in attaching together elements of a shoe bottom assembly such as those disclosed in the copending applications of Henry B. German, Serial Nos. 50,070 and 122,501, filed November 16, 1935, and January 2'7, 1937, respectively, useful in the making of certain types of welted. shoes, e. g., those disclosed in the copending application of Henry B. German, Serial No. 38,685 filed August An object of the invention is to provide .a. press for such purposes which is capable of being rapidly and efficiently loaded and unloaded, is exceptionally well suited for applying pressure to elements of a. shoe bottom assembly while they are being cemented together, is simple in construction and. capable of being economically manufactured and which is particularly well adapted to be used with a carrier or continuous conveyor of known type wherein provision preferably is made for successively opening automatically a series of presses to allow loading and for applying pressure to the presses and releasing it therefrom in accordance with a predetermined plan of operation.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in. part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan View of a portion of a carrier showing a. plurality of presses of the present invention located thereon at the deflating station, release station, loading station and in the inflating zone;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of a preferred form of the press of the presentinvention; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

In accordance with the inventions disclosed in the previously mentioned applications of Henry B. German, it is contemplated that a shoe bottom assembly may be cemented to a lasted upper, the shoe bottom assembly comprising a welt unit or ply and an outsole cemented or stitched thereto. The welt ply may consist of a welt, a fastening strip and a shaping piece or filler as disclosed the- Gormanl application Ser. No. 122,501. When-a cement bond is to bev employed between the welt unit orply and the outsole, some means is needed to hold them in proper position with B respect toeach other and to subject them to a pressing operation while the cement sets. In accordance. with the present invention a press of simple and efficient construction is provided for holding the welt unit or ply and the out- 10 sole in registry and pressing them together.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown in. Figs. 2 and 3. apress adapted for. this purpose. This. press comprisesa pair of opposed platens hinged together, one of said 1'6: platens being spring biased with respect to the other in a manner so that except when they are locked together in pressing position the pressing surfaces are. separated to allow'loading and'un loading. Releasable means are provided to lock 20 the platens together in pressing position and in the preferred form the pressing surface of at least one platen is fitted with. a resilient pad;- to accommodate a shank-skived or otherwise irregularly surfaced (but substantially fiat and-Luna 25 molded) outsole and/or welt unit or ply;

The preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the drawing comprises a basemember [0 having a recess II in the upper face. thereof in which is located a resilient pad, l2. of; suitable 30 construction, preferably a hollow infiatablerpazd provided with a substantially fiat. upper surface I3 and consisting of a rubber bag M- covered with a casing [5 of any suitable material such as leather; A depending portion I6 at the. rear 35 end of the base member H) is apertured to receive an inflating and deflating, conduit l1 suitably connected to and communicating. with the interior of. the inflatable pad I2. The conduit 11 terminates inavalve I8" having a projecting plunger I 9 for unseati-ng; the valve.;

An upright arm 20 is mounted; preferably integrally therewith, upon the rear end of the base member ID. A movable rigid platen 21. having a substantially flat pressing surface- 22; 4. is pivotally mounted upon the arm 20b) means of a horizontally disposed pintle 22' extending through a pair of apertured knuckles 2'3, 23; on the'platen 2| and through a hole in the arm-I20;- Such a platen is fitted to care for substantially 50 fiat bottom assemblies involving use of a flat out-sole. If a molded outsole, or other'zsomewhat irregular type of WOIKWGI'B; to .be used, the platen 2| and the pad may have. complementary 'or-"mu-= tually conformable surfaces.

An upstanding extension or forked post 24 is secured to the upright arm 20 by a pair of bolts such as 25, extending through, the ends of the base 26 of the extension 24 and threaded into the arm 2|]. The forked extension 24 terminates at its upper end in a pair of spaced tines 21, 21 apertured to receive a pin 23. Upon the platen 2|, preferably on the upper side and centrally, is located an ear 29. A coil spring 30 has one end connected to the car 29 and the other end connected to the pin 28 mounted upon the upright extension 24 to bias the platen 2|.

A projection is provided on the front end of the platen 2| to cooperate with a latch member on the base member ID. This projection preferably comprises a pair of spaced knuckles 3 I, 3| formed integrally with the platen and apertured to receive a horizontally disposed rod 32. A cooperating latch structure on the base I0 comprises a pair of spaced knuckles 33, 33, preferably made integrally with the base, apertured to receive a horizontally disposed pintle 34 extending through a latch member 35 positioned therebetween. The latch member 35 is provided with an upwardly extending hooked portion 36 having a nose 3! adapted to engage over the rod 32 on the platen 2| and lock the latter in pressing position.

A stop 38 on the latch 35 cooperates with an upper surface of the front edge of the base member I0 to limit the counterclockwise movement of the latch member 35 as viewed in Fig. 3. The latch member 35 extends below the pintle 34 to form a latch finger 39 against which presses a plunger 49 backed by a coil spring 4| located in a bore 42 in a boss 43 formed on the under side of the base member Ill. The spring acts to bias the latch member 35 and hold it normally in latching position. The latch finger 39 also serves as a releasing finger, as will be explained.

In the preferred construction shown in the drawing the platen 2| is provided with strengthening webs 44, 44 extending along the sides thereof and webs 45, 45 each extending from one of the knuckles 3|, 3| to the rear end as shown. The base member I0 is provided with strengthening and supporting Webs 46, 46 extending downwardlyfrom the sides thereof and additional strengthening webs 41, 41 each extending from one of the knuckles 33, 33 to the rear end thereof which may additionally serve as supporting means adapted to engage the surface of a carrier belt. Threaded apertures 48, 48 are provided in the front and rear ends of each of the webs. A threaded bolt 49 is mounted in the hole 48 in the rear end of the web 46 and carries an internally threaded headed collar 50. A threaded stud 5| is mounted in the hole.48 in the front end of the web 46. The shanks of the collars 59, 59 and the studs 5|, 5| are adapted to be received in slots in upstanding press supporting lugs on carrier cleats (not shown) ofknown or suitable form to bolt the press to the movable carrier.

In operation a plurality of presses of the present invention are mounted upon a carrier 52, a portion of which is indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 1; Preferably the carrier is of the continuous conveyor type shown in my copending application Ser. No. 36,053, filed August 14, 1935, although other known or suitable conveyors or turret carriers may be used. When used in attaching together elements of a shoe bottom assembly of the type disclosed in the mentioned Gorman application Ser. No. 122,501, a welt ply comprising a welt unit having its fastening strip sewed to a shaping piece or filler, and a prepared outsole are cemented together in the following manner.

The welt ply is located adjacent the outsole in a registered position with the outer edges of the welt registered with the rounded edges of the outsole and a preliminary locating adhesive may be applied between the extreme rear portion of the welt ply and the outsole in order to hold the former in registered position. A strong permanent adhesive such'as pyroxylin cement is interposed between the welt ply and the outsole. This cement may be applied to the welt and/or the shaping piece prior or subsequent to the construction of the welt ply and/or maybe applied to any desired portions of the outsole. In each instance it may be applied wet just before assembly of the elements of the shoe bottom assembly or previously and permitted to dry and then rendered adhesive by the application of solvent just prior to assembly of the elements.

The welt ply and an outsole having permanent adhesive in an adhesive condition therebetween are located by the operator in registry of one of the presses of the present invention positioned at the loading station, preferably with the welt ply side of the shoe bottom assembly positioned against the resilient pad |2. The platen 2| is swung down until the nose 31' of the latch member 35 engages over the rod 32 on the platen thereby locking the platen to the base member In in pressing position. A movable air supply chuck 53 of known construction mounted upon a carriage (not shown, but preferably of the kind shown in my mentioned application Serial No. 36,053) is engaged with the valve |8 at the loading station and a pick-up lug 54 on the base member Ill engages a portion of the carriage to carry along the chuck 53 through the inflating zone. Chuck 53 is then disengaged from the valve I8 and the press is routed around the carrier while the cement sets. The loaded press then approaches the deflating zone where a deflating plunger 55 engages the detent IQ of the valve l8 and holds the valve open while inflatable pad l2 defiates. The press then approaches a release station where a fixed unlatching cam 56 engages the latch finger 39 allowing the platen 2| to be released and swung upwardly by the spring 30. The press then proceeds to the loading station where it is unloaded and reloaded with another shoe bottom assembly unit and the operation is repeated with each of the plurality of presses located on the carrier. The assembled welt ply and outsole may then be removed from the press and molded or otherwise suitably prepared for attachment to a lasted upper.

Variations in the type of support or carrier for thepress, in the nature of the pressure applying pad, in the types of cement employed, etc., may obviously be made without departing from the scope of the described invention.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above are efficiently obtained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above .description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

It is also'to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the genericand specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A press for use in attaching together elements of a shoe bottom assembly comprising a base member having a recess in the upper face thereof, supporting means on the under side thereof, a substantially fiat pressure applying pad located in the recess, an inflating medium conduit mounted on said base member connected to said pad and terminating in a valve projecting at one end of said base member to cooperate with an inflating chuck and a ppressure releasing device, a rigid upright arm mounted on the same end of said base member, a rigid substantially fiat platen pivotally mounted on said arm by a horizontally disposed pintle, an upright extension mounted on said arm, a spring-engaging ear on said platen, a coil spring connected between said extension and said ear to hinge said platen away from said pad to allow loading and unloading, a projection on the end of said platen opposite the end pivotally mounted on said arm, a latch hook pivotally mounted on the other end of said base member to engage said projection to lock said platen in pressing position adjacent said pad, a spring normally holding said latch hook in latching position, and a projection on said latch hook to cooperate with releasing means mounted on a carrier frame.

2. In a machine for pressing shoe bottom assemblies, a carrier movable along a path, a press on said carrier having a pocketed base, a leather encased inflatable pad in said pocket presenting a substantially flat flexible upper diaphragm, a iiuid conduit leading to said pad having inflating and deflating valve means therein, an arm extending upwardly from said base at one end thereof, a rigid platen forming a lid over said base and having a substantially flat work engaging face overlying said diaphragm, said platen being hinged to said base at the end thereof bearing said arm, a spring between said arm and platen normally urging the latter upwardly to open position, a latch hook for holding said platen and base closed together with work therebetween, a projection on said latch hook to cooperate with releasing means along said carrier path, means along said carrier path to operate said valve to inflate and deflate said pad, and means along said carrier path to release said latch projection.

JOHN FREDERICK SMITH. 

